A Classic, by Any Other Name
I gave up drinking sodas (colas, pop, what have you) in the spring of 2008. So I'm coming up on a year without having had one of the staples of my teen & young adult life - Coca-Cola. My reasons are pretty much exclusively health related. Once you actually learn about what is in a soda, and what it does in your body when you drink it, it's hard to really justify a daily ritual that is so completely unhealthy. I loved Coke - and from the time I was old enough to earn my own money, it quickly became a part of my daily life. Living in the desert for most of my life, fountain drinks could be purchased pretty much by the gallon in cups with names like Big Gulp and Super Big Gulp. Downing 44+ ounces of Coca Cola in a day was nothing for me.
I don't miss it at all, surprisingly. Partly because my wife has converted me to drinking iced tea (and hot tea, allowing me to pretty much eliminate the desire for cafe mochas and other overpriced Starbucks-fare). Partly because of how important it is to drink more water. I've considered having a Coke from time to time, but never really felt like it was necessary. I'd drink soda in a mixed drink, but I think my days of drinking soda as a beverage of choice are permanently gone.
But I remember vividly when Coca Cola decided that it was time to introduce a new version of their beloved soft drink. I remember my own indignation and fury at such a monumentally stupid move - vowing to remove their signature product in order to push a new version of the product which was sweeter, tasting more like that evil alternative, Pepsi. Fortunately, I was not alone in my anger, and the public backlash against Coca-Cola forced them to do an about face, and reintroduce the 'original' Coca Cola formula as the rebranded 'Classic Coca Cola'. Now, 24 years later, they are removing the 'Classic' moniker, and going back to just plain ol' Coca Cola.
The incident in 1985 is widely considered one of the incredibly awful marketing moves ever made. I just remember it as part of an increasingly hazy adolescence. I may not drink the stuff any more, but it's a great reminder that just because something is old or been around for a while, doesn't mean that it isn't relevant any more, or can be easily dismissed or replaced. In a culture obsessed with the latest and greatest, where the assumption is that whatever came before us can't possibly be as good, or as right, or as true, it's good to be reminded in language we can all relate to, that these assumptions are only that - assumptions. And we all know how well those tend to work out.
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